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Tim/Riddler - excellent renditions of "What Are You Doing..." It's been quite a while since I heard this fine song - it's right up there with LeGrand's "I Will Wait for You" & "Windmills of Your Mind"...excellent playing on both!

Mike - really liked your version of "Laura", one of my all time favorites - I've recorded this too, but not in your league - lovely, haunting song & it was a good movie too (of the "Film Noir" genre) - Gene Tierney was considered by many as maybe the most beautiful of the Hollywood stars of that era (which is saying a whole lot!) I think that might have been right, and yes, it was "Gene"...

jazztpt - good work on both "Yes..." & "Starting..." Enjoyed them a lot!

Constantin - enjoyed your take on "St. Louis Blues" - well done! You know you are dealing with a legendary standard when they name a professional hockey team after it...

John

"Difficulties deferred and challenges unmet will eventually return with a vengeance to bite one in the butt." (paraphrasing Chopin)

One of my all time favorite, and most frequently played, CDs was one I "burned" myself some years ago - it was a collection of Cole Porter's best songs, and featured Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald alternating on vocals selected from their many superb albums over the years.

Porter is, of course, considered by many as our greatest individual songwriter (as compared to team of Rogers and Hammerstein, for example) whose works were always a cut above others in both their musical structure and lyrical content, being highly sophisticated on both aspects. In fact, his song "Begin the Beguine" is sometimes cited as the best pop song ever written...perhaps...

Here's one of his most beautiful, which is from his 1948 musical "Kiss Me Kate", a revival of which I had the pleasure of seeing on Broadway:

What are you doing the rest of your life - Always a pleasure to listen to everything you post. You play with such confidence all the way through. Is this from any specific sheet music or were you improvising. I ask because I would like to try it.

What are you doing the rest of your life - Always a pleasure to listen to everything you post. You play with such confidence all the way through. Is this from any specific sheet music or were you improvising. I ask because I would like to try it.

Ian

Thanks for your kind comments.

I started from the Real Book lead sheet and worked up the arrangement from that. Usually, I jot down some info on the lead sheet to remind myself where to change styles, when to play runs, etc. I have looked around but can't find the lead sheet that I used.

This song has actually been in my head for a long time. I remember it from the 1970s, and may have played it by ear on the Hammond organ that I had then.

Handyman - So in love I like Cole Porter very much, and especially the orchestral arrangements of his greatest hits that were created to serve as a musical background in the movie "Evil under the sun", which is one of my favourite movies. I also like your rendition of "So in love". Yes, Porter is always playing with words in his lyrics in a funny manner.

OK, so last night I was being entertained by Cole Porter's voodoo words, and - guess what? - I forgot to post my song.

So here it is - Good Morning Heartache, written by Irene Higginbotham in the 1940s. It has been recorded by Billie Holiday, Diana Ross, and many others. It is sometimes categorized as a torch song (don't worry, you're not going to hear me sing). I am playing here from a lead sheet, along with a backing track.

Thanks all for liking my stuff.Handyman, nicely done. Time gone by comes back upon hearing. Elegant.Ed, that Good Morning Heartache was quite excellent. Best I have heard from you so far. Was that your improvisation? Equally good and well played.

Sometimes I think a few of you would love exploring midi on an iPad. So much fun and affordable. You can take your piano performances and explore a lot of sonic possibilities just by plugging different instruments into your piano midi track and mixing the voices in and out. The instruments are generally free, or $5-$15 with exceptions, of course, but nothing like the cost of VSTs Here is an example using a cathedral organ, choir, synth, strings and oboe. Sure, some of the sounds are less than perfect, but as you can hear the choir is exceptional as is the synth. Strings are more than adequate. Pm me if you want some more info.

Ed - "Good Morning Heartache" - very nicely done, a throughly enjoyable listen...it would have been even without the background track.

Haven't heard that one either for a very long time - went to YT and listened to Billie sing it - it's definitely a torch song...so was a lot of other stuff she sang...I think did she invented the genre.

John

"Difficulties deferred and challenges unmet will eventually return with a vengeance to bite one in the butt." (paraphrasing Chopin)

Handyman - So in love I like Cole Porter very much, and especially the orchestral arrangements of his greatest hits that were created to serve as a musical background in the movie "Evil under the sun"...

Well, here's a partial list of some of his greatest hits (these are the tracks on that CD I mentioned above):

Night and DayYou Do Something to MeEvery Time We Say GoodbyeSo Easy to LoveToo Darn HotYou're the TopAll of MeI Concentrate on YouSo in LoveLove for SaleIt's DelovelyYou'd Be So Nice to Come Home ToIn the Still of the NightIt's Alright With MeAnything GoesWhat is This Thing Called Love?I Get a kick Out of YouFrom This Moment OnIt Was Just One of Those ThingsLet's Do ItI've Got You Under My SkinAlways True to You in My FashionAt Long Last LoveBegin the Beguine

With Frank & Ella taking turns singing these down through the tracks does the GAS get any better than this? I think not!

John

"Difficulties deferred and challenges unmet will eventually return with a vengeance to bite one in the butt." (paraphrasing Chopin)

Ed - Good Morning Heartache Your recordings with a virtual combo are always fascinating, and this tune, hitherto unknown to me, is very pleasant. This version of yours is so much 1960s... I love that.

Handyman - Thanks for the list of Porter's greatest successes. I have a 222 pages songbook with piano arrangements of Porter songs, but have only played 2 of them so far: "Night and day" and "Just one of those things".